IPL: Kings XI Punjab keep play-off hopes alive

IPL scores ( Mohali)

Kings XI Punjab won by 14 runs

Kings XI Punjab inns: 167-6 (Maxwell 44, Saha 38; Woakes 2-20, K Yadav 2-34)

Kolkata Knight Riders inns: 153-6 (Lynn 84; M Sharma 2-24, Tewatia 2-18)

Match report

Chris Woakes moved up to joint-third in the leading IPL wicket-takers table but couldn't lead Kolkata Knight Riders to a final-over win over Kings XI Punjab.

Woakes - who has played every match for his franchise - marked his 100th T20 match with a frugal four-over spell of 2-20 that limited Kings XI to 167-6, despite 44 off 25 balls from skipper Glenn Maxwell, and took him to 17 wickets in the tournament.

Chris Lynn hit 84 off 52 balls only for Kolkata to finish on 153-6 off 20 overs as Kings XI kept their distant play-off hopes alive.

On a good batting deck, Woakes came into the attack with Kings XI 41-2 after Manan Vohra (25 off 16) and Martin Guptill (12) had put on 39 for the first wicket in under five overs.

The Warwickshire all-rounder maintained the pressure before bowling Shaun Marsh (11).

Just four runs came off Woakes' third over as Glenn Maxwell tried to rebuild in partnership with Wriddhiman Saha, the Australian trying to spark his side's innings into life with two sixes off three Colin de Grandhomme deliveries.

He repeated the dose against spinner Kuldeep Yadav at the start of the 16th over, twice clearing the midwicket rope in as many balls, only to loft a googly next up to wide long-off where Woakes took a fine two-handed running catch in the deep.

Width proved Kuldeep Yadav's ally again when Saha advanced but failed to reach a googly way outside off - Robin Uthappa completing the stumping off the wide.

Woakes returned to bowl his final over with two to go - his figures 1-0 off three at the time - and picked up his second wicket when Swapnil Singh dragged on, only back-to-back boundaries from Rahul Tewatia tarnishing superb figures.

Amid high expectation, Narine drove the first two balls of the chase from Shandeep Sharma over the covers for four.

The signs looked ominous for the Knight Riders until the West Indian was undone by a superb slower ball from Mohit Sharma.

That left Lynn in the spotlight and the Australian didn't disappoint, easily dispatching a Matt Henry over the rope and continuing to find the boundary regularly, despite failures from Gautam Gambhir (eight) and Uthappa, superbly caught by Axar Patel off Tewaita's next ball for a duck.

After 13 overs Kolkata were on 97-3 but a fifty-run stand off 43 balls between Lynn and Pandey appeared to have tilted the balance until both fell in the space of three balls.

But although Woakes smeared a leg-side six the equation of 20 off the final six balls from Sandeep proved too stiff, Kings XI's superb death bowling keeping them in the hunt.